History

Like just to show how insane this was--British garrisons in Sierra Leone had a 40% annual death rate. This is *twice as bad as Dachau*; it's about the same as the first-year mortality rates of newly-arrived slaves in Haiti. Getting stationed here was basically a death sentence! https://t.co/Gm1Ie2kRId pic.twitter.com/ZxC35RzOLz

— Aminadad Mercilesse Butcher (@OttokarHochman) April 17, 2026

 

An Insight

Minnesota is so retarded

We give hundreds of Billions of dollars to daycares and autism centers and they don’t verify they are an actual business or have kids or clients there

Meanwhile,
I’m getting my kitchen remodeled.

My licensed and insured contractor had to get a permit… pic.twitter.com/k2Z3CE4D1u

— Jason Robertson (@JRobFromMN) April 15, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

The physics of a pendulum wave

📹Marcel Clemens pic.twitter.com/zHd4W8AbhY

— Science girl (@sciencegirl) April 17, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

In Japan, police and local government officials conduct a joint exercise with anti-bear patrol teams for when the bears come out of hibernation.

They literally send a guy out in a bear suit while the team drills him with practice darts. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/3MXAumydLG

— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) April 16, 2026

 

Data Talks

In double-blind placebo-controlled trials, 'gluten-sensitive' people who *think* they're going to eat gluten have reactions.

But if they don't expect gluten, there's no reaction.

Expectancy has a bigger effect than actually eating gluten! pic.twitter.com/Kdqc6kQc1Y

— Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) April 16, 2026

 

Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it

From The Examiner No. XIV (Thursday, November 9th, 1710), Jonathan Swift.

Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect: like a man, who hath thought of a good repartee when the discourse is changed, or the company parted; or like a physician, who hath found out an infallible medicine, after the patient is dead.

Prairie Sky by Joseph Alleman

Prairie Sky by Joseph Alleman (America, 1975 - ) 

Click to enlarge.

Wilmer McLean

That the US Civil War began and ended on the properties of the same man.

— Richard 🇺🇸 (@Richard79139714) May 23, 2026

Grok, is this true?

The X post replies to a prompt for favorite historical facts by claiming the US Civil War began and ended on properties of the same man, later identifying him as Wilbur (a minor misremembering of Wilmer McLean).

Wilmer McLean's Virginia farmhouse near Manassas served as Confederate Gen. Beauregard's headquarters in July 1861 during the First Battle of Bull Run, where a cannonball struck his kitchen.

McLean moved to Appomattox Court House to escape fighting, but in April 1865 Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of his new home there, effectively ending the war.

 

Andrew Jackson had an African grey parrot that swore so much at his funeral it had to be removed because it wouldn’t stop screaming obscenities

Andrew Jackson had an African grey parrot that swore so much at his funeral it had to be removed because it wouldn’t stop screaming obscenities, I love this one because I also have one that swears and I hope she does the same when I die lmao.

I also love that Australia had an…

— Courtney (@CourtneyWRocket) May 23, 2026

Question to Grok - Did that really happen? (the grey parrot story; I know about the Emu war.)

Andrew Jackson owned an African grey parrot named Poll (sometimes called Polly). It originally belonged to his wife Rachel and was acquired around 1827. After Rachel's death, Jackson kept the bird. 

[en.wikipedia.org]

At Jackson's funeral on June 10, 1845, at The Hermitage in Tennessee, Poll reportedly caused a scene by swearing loudly. Reverend William Menefee Norment, who attended, later recalled (as quoted in Samuel G. Heiskell’s Andrew Jackson and Early Tennessee History):

"Before the sermon and while the crowd was gathering, a wicked parrot that was a household pet, got excited and commenced swearing so loud and long as to disturb the people and had to be carried from the house."

The bird was removed to restore order. African greys are excellent mimics, and Jackson was known for his colorful language, so the parrot likely picked it up from him or others in the household. 

[jacksonianamerica.com]

This is an anecdotal story based on a contemporary eyewitness account, but it's widely accepted as credible (though not 100% proven with multiple independent sources). It's documented in historical books, the Presidential Pet Museum, and Snopes rates the core claim as true based on the reverend's recollection.

History

Women: "Do men even have feelings?"

Meanwhile men: pic.twitter.com/A0DJ3EiIxB

— Jash Dholani (@oldbooksguy) April 17, 2026